Sometimes the oddest things will strike a chord in me.
A crumpled piece of paper nearly brought me to tears.
This particular piece of paper happened to be an application for the Adopt a Family program that we offer to members of our church.
I recall mailing the application to this family some time ago. You could tell by the condition of the paper that it was at one time aimed toward the trash can. I can actually see it in my mind. The mom or dad filling out the application and then because of pride and/or frustration or feeling that there are people in greater need they grab the paper and make that growling noise we all can make when overcome with this kind of frustration and they end up just wadding it up and throwing it away. Only to have the other person take it out of the trash and convince their partner that they really do need help this time. Sometimes pride can be a huge obstacle to overcome.
Then there are the applications that come in that appear to be tear stained. Single parents who don't have that partner to help carry the burden and so they have a double dose of pride to swallow.
I see these pieces of paper and know that these people sometimes identify with them…stained, crumpled. We still need to love them…He does.
